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"Black JJacob," 

A MONUMENT OF G R A C K. 



THE LIFE 



OF 



JACOB ITODCtES. 



AN AFRICAN NEGRO, 



WHO DltD IN CANANOAIGUAi N. Y.. I C B R L° A B T. IMS 



BY A. I). i:i)DY, 

/Truvft, AT 7. 



KBViagD BT THB COMMITTEB OF ri'BLICATIOB. 



AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. 

PHILADELPHIA: 
No. Itf CHESTNUT STBEET 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, 
by Herman Cope, Treasurer, in trust for the American Sun- 
day-school Union, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



s 







1. 



L. JOHNSON, STEREOTYPER, 
PHILADELPHIA. 




I'KEFACE. 



At an early period in the selUement of this 
country, while the ulavr-trade was vigorously 
pursued, many of the natives of Africa were 
brought tu America and 8old into perpetual 
servitude. While this class of people has 
lonp excited the interest and sympathy of this 
benevolent, hut lilUe has been done to change, 
essentially, their relative position in society. 
While a portion remain in servitude, others, 
though free, nuist meet almost msurmountable 
obstacles to that improvement and elevation 
which, under other circumstances, and in thrir 
own native land, they might probably secure. 

Though this numerous class of men, as a 
l>ody, have improved but little for many gene- 
rations, there have been occasional exceptions 
to their general ignorance and degradation. 



111 



VI PREFACE. 

for crime, and no encouragement given to such 
as may be repeating the hazardous experiment 
of indulged depravity. While one abandoned 
sinner lives to repent, thousands die incorrigi- 
ble. While the grace of God reaches and 
secures one from the sentence of death, thou- 
sands are abandoned to the wages of unriglit- 
eousness, to reap forever the fruit of their 
crimes. 



JACOB HODGES. 



Jacob Hodges, the subject of the fol- 
lowing memoir, was born of African pa- 
rents, in Lancaster, l*ennsylvania, about 
the year 17G3. Tlje family, though ex- 
tremely depressed, living in ignorance 
and poverty, were not, as it is known, 
ever subjects of slavery.* 

Eitlier from the poverty, ignorance, or 
wickedness of Ins parents, Jacob was 
suffered to spend his early years wliolly 
without education or moral restraint. Un- 
der the intluences of such a condition, and 
the common associations of poor coloured 
children, nothinj^ of good could be ex- 
pected. It is not known that Jacob liad, 

♦The place of Jacob's birth is not certainly 
known. At one lime he supposed it to be the city 
of Philadelpliia, subsequently he believed it to be 
Uie rity of Lancaster. 

3 



4 JACOB HODGES. 

at this time, a friend on earth lo counsel 
or to care for him. There were then no 
Sabbath-schools, nor such pubUc provi- 
sion for the instruction of the poor, as 
is now found in almost every commu-- 
nity. The child of ignorance and pover-- 
ty, wearing his sable complexion, in ai 
crowded population, was ordinarily passed I 
by with utter neglect, as the beast that 
perisheth. It is not known tliat a solitary 
lesson of useful instruction was ever given 
to this African child. 

After spending ten years in his native 
place, exposed to all the evils of his 
wretched parentage, Jacob was shipped 
on board the schooner Lydia, of Philadel- 
phia, in the West India trade, in the ca- 
pacity of waiting boy. In this situation, 
Avell calculated to perpetuate his igno- 
rance and to confirm him in every vicious 
propensity, and farther removed than ever 
from the means of education and moral 
improvement, he soon became distin- 
guished for every species of wickedness 
that his circumstances allowed. Being 



JACOB HODGES. 5 

sprightly, insolent and daring, he was, 
alternately, the source of amusement and 
the subject of abuse to the olhcers and 
crew of the ship; yet it would seem that 
lie was capable of rendering himself usr- 
ful even in this hnmble station. 

In the capacity of wailinir and rabm 
boy on board dilfercnl ships, and at"t(T- 
wards as a common sailor, he continued 
for a great number of years. He visited 
almost every port m Kurope, as well as 
other countries, minL'liir.? in scenes of de- 
gradation and vice abroad, till he ac(piired 
the hardness, enterprise and viciousness 
of the most dissolute seaman. And who 
is more reckless and abandoned than a 
homeless, friendless African sailor ! Ad- 
dicted in early life to every species of pro- 
faneness, the sin of intemperance soon 
followed. To use liis own language, he 
was always profaiu; and always bad. 

After pursuing a sea-faring life till 
sometime during the last war between 
this country and England, the vessel in 
which he served was driven into New 

r 



6 JACOB HODGES. 

York by a British armed ship, and he 
was cast upon shore, a destitute and 
abandoned sailor. During his whole life 
at sea he had not received the slightest 
education, but grew more and more im- 
moral, till he was utterly unfitted for any 
useful service on land where confidence 
in his sobriety and integrity was de- 
manded. 

Being dismissed from service, and des- 
titute of all means of support, his condition 
was as deplorable and hopeless as can 
well be imagined. How long he continued 
in these unhappy circumstances is not 
known. Being unable to procure any 
steady employment, or secure any perma- 
nent residence, he wandered through the 
country till he became settled in the 
county of Orange, in the state of New 
York. 

He was now too old to receive the ad- 
vantages of education provided for the 
poor at the public expense, and too 
ignorant and vicious to know its value. 
Having cast aside all the restraints of 



JACOB HODGES. 



moral iiirtuoiice, lie had become confirnied 
uii laiul ill all the habits of vice contracted, 
upon the sea. 

Notwithslandintj all tliis ii^iioraiice, vice 
and degradation, there wa.s in Jacob 
Hodges a native dignity and a ni»ble car- 
naj^e, which clearly illu.stratod traits of 
mind which cultivation and better circum- 
stances of life would have devploj>ed to 
the honour of our common humanity. 
Tliougli strikingly African, every feature 
and moveiii«'nt of Jacob showed tliat he 
was orii,'inally fitted for a higher and bet- 
ter character, and but for the disadvan- 
tages of his birth, and the utter neglect 
of his early education, he might have 
been a man indeed. 

I low long Jacob lived in the county of 
Orange is not known ; but an uncommon 
and painful occurrence is connected with 
his history here, which clianged the whole 
aspect of his subsecpient life. 

In the town of Warwick, about seven 
mih's from the village of (loshcn, there 
resided a man by the name of Jennings, 



8 JACOB HODGES. 

who had already attained to the age of 
seventy years. By a process of tedious 
and vexatious law-suits, he had come into 
possession of property, by which another 
family was greatly disappointed and com- 
pletely impoverished. Hostility, which 
had long existed between the parties, be- 
came every day more and more violent. 
Revenge was constantly meditated and 
threatened. At length, the malignity of 
the aggrieved party was so exasperated 
that actual violence and bloodshed were 
not only meditated, but planned for 
speedy execution. The old man of 
seventy years was selected as the victim. 

The individual whose pecuniary in- 
terests he had injured secured two accom- 
plices, who, from sharing in his feelings 
of revenge, or from promises of pecuniary 
reward, entered into his purposes of mur- 
der. One of these was the poor, ignorant 
Jacob Hodges. He was selected as the 
immediate instrument of the fatal deed ; 
as if murder, though perpetrated by other 
hands, would secure them from the ven- 



JACOB HODGES. 9 

geaiice of God, or the rigliteoiis dumandii 
of liuiiian law. 

It would seem iliat .Jacob liad been, lor 
some time, in tlie employment of these 
men as a common labourer, and that for 
more than a year tliey had been prepar- 
int^ for the nmrder of Jennings. During 
this whole period, they were endeavour- 
inc; to secure Jacob's consent to execute 
iheir bloody purpose. They told him di- 
rectly, that " he was the very person fit- 
ted for the old man's destruction." They 
promised him, at the same linn.', their co- 
operation, and a large ])ecuniary reward. 
Jacob for a lone: time hesitated. 

Another, and a desperate elfort was 
made. 'I'he wife of one of the parties be- 
came an accessary. She was a woman 
who, till tlien, sustained a respectable 
character for intelligence and morality. 
In her opinion Jacob placed tlie fullest 
confidence. She was now brought for- 
ward to persuade him of the justness and 
necessity of the act to which he was 
urged. Yet it would seem his heart 



10 JACOB HODGES. 

shrunk back from the bloody deed. He 
asked her, "if it woukl be right ?" She 
repUed, "Yes, for if the old man is not put 
out of the way, he will ruin my husband 
and brother. They are entitled to the 
property which he has taken from them, 
and only by his death can they get it 
back." But neither her persuasions, nor 
the repeated promises of reward, fully 
satisfied the mind of Jacob. He still 
hesitated as to his final decision. 

To overcome his remaining difficulties, 
recourse was had to the use of ardent spirits, 
that fearful agent, which most effectually 
perverts the conscience and destroys the 
soul. From Jacob's long-established ha- 
bits of intemperance, this course soon 
drowned all remaining sense of moral 
rectitude, and left him the complete victim 
of his seducers. 

The wretched woman, alternately rea- 
soning with Jacob and ministering to his 
vicious appetite, prepared him to engage 
in the work of death. He was furnished 
by one of the men with a musket, powder 



JACOB HODGES. 11 

and shot, and instructed as to the mode of 
executing their purpose. He was first 
advised to proceed by nieht to the house 
ot the old man, and fire througli the win- 
dow. To this Jacob objected, as he might 
in that case injur*; other members of his 
family : yet he was fully prepared to meet 
their wishes whenever a favourable mo- 
ment should arrive. 

. Early on the morning of the 21st of 
December, 1819, Mr. Jennings, the aged 
and unsuspecting victnn of this conspiracy, 
left his family to visit some grounds whirh 
had been the subject of litigation, and on 
which the opposite party, wlio still held 
possession, were committing depredations. 
In his way, he passed the dwelling where 
the conspirators were met. Jacob was at 
breakfast, in the room of his miserable 
adviser, Mrs. T. On being inl'ormed 
that the old man was passing, he rose 
from the table, and took his gun from 
behind the door, while Mrs. T. brought 
him the powder and shot, giving him, at 
the same time, more ardent spirits, that 



Ig JACOB HODGES. 

he might not shrink from his desperate 
purpose. Jacob hesitated ; turning to her 
he anxiously inquired, " If it was neces- 
sary to proceed to business?" She repUed, 
" It is time that the old savage was out of 
the world." Thus stimulated and urged 
forward, he crossed the fields into an ad- 
joining grove, while one of the white men 
went forward in the road. Having over- 
taken Mr. Jennings, he detained him in 
conversation till Jacob came from the 
woods and joined them. The old man 
asked him if he had been cutting wood 
from his lot? Jacob replied that he had. 
He then inquired if his gun was loaded ? 
Jacob said, No. His accomplice stepped 
aside, when Jacob raised his gun, and, 
taking aim at Mr. Jennings, fired at the 
distance of ten feet. The shot struck upon 
one side of the face, near the eye, and 
glancing, cut off" part of the ear. Either 
from the etfect of the wound, or from 
agitation, the old man fell back to the 
ground. In the opinion of the surgeon, 
however, who examined the body, the 



JACOB HODGES. 13 

shot was not mortal. Jacob, on seeing 
the prostrate condition of his aged victim, 
and rciiecting upon what he had done, 
was filled with liorror, and being about 
to go away, his accomplice ran to him, 
and exclaimed, profanely, " He is not dead 
yet; will y<>n uikIi rtakc a piece of busi- 
ness, and not tiiush it?" Sprini?inc for- 
ward, the while man i>eized the gun, and 
struck Jennings several times upon the 
head, till the stock was l)n>kL'n in ]»ieces, 
and the old man was pule dead. 

'I'lie body was lelt in its blood, unburied 
and unconcealed, Jacob n^lurncd to the 
house of Mrs. T., and told lier what he 
had done. She appeare(i pleased, and 
gave huii mure ardent spirits. Oiven 
over to delusion and madness, she mnni- 
lested no symptoms of remorse or contri- 
tion. It was not so with Jacob. Neither 
the attempts of the nnirderous })arty to 
convince him that he had done right ; nor 
the promise of large pecuniary reward, 
with the power of stnnulants, could quiet 
the agitated nnnd of this poor negro. He 



14 JACOB HODGES. 

was a murderer ! The groans of his aged 
victim would not die from his ear ! That 
gory head he could not forget ! The 
broken and pallid countenance continually 
followed him ! He not only carried in his 
bosom the conviction of guilt, but his 
whole conduct betrayed his emotions of 
remorse and anguish. Twenty-two years 
after this tragical event, he rehearsed to 
me its horrid details, and it seemed to pass 
almost in living reality and freshness be- 
fore him. 

He went to the chief instigator, wlio 
had employed him to commit the murder, 
and told him how he felt. It was not 
considered prudent for him to remain 
longer in the place. Immediate measures 
were adopted to induce him to leave the 
country ; but he continued to linger about 
for some days, hesitating what to do ; in 
part, from the agitation of his own mind, 
and also, perhaps, to secure his share of 
the promised reward. 

On Saturday, five days after the murder, 
he was persuaded to start for Newburg, 



JACOB HODGES. 15 

With the view of going to New York, 
wlieiice he was to proceed to sea. 'I'hoiigh 
Newburg was but twculy miles from 
Warwick, he did not reach that place till 
the next day at sun-set. Fearing that he 
would not make his escape witli suliicient 
expedition, one of the conspirators fol- 
lowed him on Sunday, and overtook him 
])efore he reached Newburc. Here they 
both lodged for the night. The next 
niormng, Jacob crossed the river, witli the 
tlesign of hastening to New York, that h«j 
might ship for sea as soon as possible. 
Tlie other man returmd to Warwick. 

By tins lime, the unusual absence of 
Mr. Jennings from his family began to 
create alarm for his safety, and search 
l)eing made, his body was soon Ibund 
when' It was left by his nmrderers. Th(} 
suddtMi disapi)earance of Jacob, and the 
fact that he was seen on his way to New- 
biug, in company with one of the conspi- 
rators, caused suspicion to rest at once 
upon him, and those who had instigated 
him to tlir murder. Jacob, in the mean 



16 JACOB HODGES. 

time, had passed down the river to New 
York, while all the others, including Mrs. 
T., were arrested and imprisoned. Vigor- 
ous measures were adopted to secure 
Jacob. Two parties were sent in pur- 
suit of him ; one of which traced him to 
New York, where he was arrested and 
returned up the river to Haverstraw. 

Jacob at first denied having any know- 
ledge of the murder, but appeared greatly 
distressed. He continued firm in his de- 
nial, resisting the solicitation and advice 
of his attendants, till the latter part of the 
night following his arrest, when he made 
a full confession, and gave a minute rela- 
tion of the whole transaction. This he 
repeated in all his subsequent conversa- 
tions and critical examinations in court. 
He also gave to me the same account 
substantially, as late as the summer of 
1841. 

From Haverstraw he was taken to 
Goshen, and after being examined before 
five magistrates, was fully committed to 



JACOB UODGES. 17 

await his trial, at the next session of the 
court of oyer and terminer. 

At this court, indictments were found 
by the grand jury against the three white 
men, Jacob, and Mrs. T., for the wilful 
murder of Jennings. Upon the trial of 
tho wliite men and Mrs. T., Jacob was 
the chief witness on the part of the prose- 
cution. His testimony commences as foi- 
Knvs : " About one year ago, one of the 
prisoners told me that I was a fit person 
to destroy Jeiuiings. Another said to me, 
I wish I liad killed him, and in the even- 
ing he requested me to do it. During the 
sitting of the court, last fall, two of them 
several times spoke to me, and wished I 
u'(^iild do it; and told me not to let my 
mind fiil me, for I should have spirits 
enough ; that T. and I), would assist me, 
and would divide one thousand dollars 
between them and me. On Thursday, be- 
fore the mtirder, after an hour's conversa- 
tion. I agreed to kill Jennings. On Satur- 
day, C. loaded the gun, and showed me 
how to do it. \N'hen the sun was about an 

2* 



18 JACOB HODGES. 

hour high, I went towards T.'s with the 
gun. (T. was the one who was to assist me 
in the murder.) He was gone to New 
York. I conversed with Mrs. T. and D. 
about the murder. They both approved of 
it, and D. said that he would assist me. 
Mrs. T. gave me some whisky, and told mo 
to help myself when I wanted. The next 
day Mrs. T. went to meeting, and told me 
to make free use of the whisky. Ou 
Monday morning, when I was at break- 
fast, D. came in and told me that Jennings 
was passing. I arose from the table and 
took the gun." Then follows, as seen 
from the records of the court, a full and 
minute statement of the manner in which 
the murder was committed, and the sub- 
sequent steps of Jacob's departure to 
New York, his arrest and return to Go- 
shen jail. 

The testimony of Jacob was direct and 
positive, going to criminate the four other 
prisoners. He was closely examined 
several times, and uniformly told a 
rational and consistent story. At one 



JACOB HODGES. 19 

time he was more than seven hours 
uninterruptedly under examination, and 
no essential deviation or inconsistency was 
detected in any part of liis lons^ and 
tedious statement. There was such a 
frankne&s and appearance ot trutli and 
candour in liis wliole demeanour, tliat the 
court and sj)t'Clalors were fully s;itisfied 
with the correctness of his story. 

Though th»! j)arties all pleaded not 
guilty, the three whife men, with Jacob, 
were Ibund i^uilty, and sentenced to b(; 
executed on the Kith of April, following; 
and after execution, the body of Jacob 
Hodges was to be delivered to the Presi- 
dent of the Orange County Medical So- 
ciety, for dissection. 

Mrs. T., when brought to trial, as she 
had seen her husband and his two accom- 
jilices found guilty upon the same testi- 
nionv that was to be adduced against her, 
withdrew her plea of " Not guilty," and as 
the purposes of justice did not seem to 
demand her execution, she was sentenced 
upon her own confession to merely a no- 



20 JACOB HODGES. 

minal punishment, viz. imprisonment in 
the county jail for the term of one month. 
In justification of this mitigated punish- 
ment, the court remarked, that the man- 
dates of a stern and inflexible Imsband 
might have influenced her conduct in rela- 
tion to the murder ; but that however this 
might have been, the destitute situation of 
her children, already deprived of a father, 
so that she was now to be their only pro- 
tector — the only parent to whom they 
must in future look for support ; this and 
a variety of other considerations, pressed 
themselves upon the minds of the court, 
who had thought proper to extend to her 
all the mercy the law would allow. 

The simplicity and honesty of Jacob's 
whole deportment while upon trial and as 
chief witness for the State, made a most 
favourable impression upon the court, and 
excited strong sympathy in his behalf. 
They saw that he had been led into crinje 
by the deep-laid plan of wicked men, who 
had been goaded to desperation by re- 
peated disappointments, and whom no- 



JACOB HODGES. 21 

tliiii'4 could satisfy but llie violent death 
of ilicir victim. 'J'lic* court saw that ap- 
I)eals liad been made to Jacob's sense oi 
obligation to bis employers; and also that 
in aflcJilion to tbe promise of co-operation 
in tbe crime and a lame pecuniary ro- 
Avard, iiis moral sense had been stupefied 
by freely administered stimulants. P'rom 
tiiesc considerations, exertions were early 
made to save him from the fatal sentence 
that had been passed upon liini. And 
some of the court, even while they felt 
that justice nnghl demand the sentence ot 
(leaih, voluntarily promised to reconunend 
liim to the clemency of the legislature. 

Providentially, the legislature of the 
Slate were in session at the tinn; appointed 
for Jacob's execution. \\'hile the execu- 
tive had the power of prantinu: an un- 
(|ualilicd j>ardon,lhe lei^islative branch of 
govermnent alone rcnild change the sen- 
tence which the court had j)assed upon 
Inm. Upon n^presentations being made 
in favour of Jacob, his sentence of death 
was commuted to that of liard labour in 



22 JACOB HODGES. 

the State's prison, for the term of twenty-- 
one years. Another of the convicts had 
his sentence changed to imprisonment for 
life. The remaining two were executed 
according to the sentence of the court, on 
the 16th day of April, 1819. 

Leaving the scaffold of these miserable 
felons, and this ruined and imprisoned 
woman, who had been instrumental in 
bringing misery and guilt upon a poor, 
ignorant African, we must follow him to 
his dreary cell in the penitentiary on JNIan- 
hattan Island. These gloomy walls he 
now entei's, a wretched outcast, a con- 
demned murderer. 

At this time but little attention was paid 
to the habits, education, or moral improve- 
ment of the inmates of our prisons gene- 
rally. They were regarded more as places 
of punishment and means of restraint 
upon the lawless and desperately wicked, 
than as designed for instruction and moral 
influence. The idea of making them, 
nurseries of education, means of moral 
reform, and sanctuaries for moral and re- 



JACOB HODGES. 23 

ligious culture, was not entertained evoii 
by the Christian community. Tliere was 
httle of kindness, sympathy, or mercy felt 
for tlie prisoner. All was conducted upon 
the ordinary principles of strict, impartial, 
legal justice. 

Towards Jacob Hodges, a miserable 
African, a nuirderer, ther*.' may have been 
some severity, owing either to his own 
refractory temper, or iIm* character of liis 
keepers. While, as lie told nu', he was 
not over-worked and had eiiouijh to eal 
and dnnU, there was iioihing to win his 
ronfidence or to excite his belter feelings. 
lb; was treated as an ignorant, aban- 
<iuned, wretched murderer, who, though 
III' had escaped the gallows, was mule- 
serving of the ordinary kindness and 
syni|)a(hy usually extended t»» ihe less 
thigrantly guilty. We can easily imagine, 
too, that Jacob's j)rison-dress ; the neces- 
sary associations with his past history; liis 
strongly marked, dark African I'eatures, 
tt>i?ether with his stately, resolule carriage, 
may all have served to turn away all 



24 JACOB HODGES. 

sympathy, and to excite far other than 
charitable feehngs towards him. 

Upon the completion of the new prison 
at Auburn, Jacob was among the number 
of State convicts that were removed to 
that place. A new system of prison dis- 
cipline was adopted at the opening of this 
spacious penitentiary, and the keepers 
appeared admirably fitted to carry out its 
details according to the peculiar character 
and disposition of its iimiates. The su- 
perintendent of the prison, the late Mr. 
Powers, was a man of uncommon excel- 
lence of character, of remarkably kind feel- 
ings, and condescending to the prisoners. 
He regarded them, though felons, still as 
men and moral beings, susceptible of 
better feelings, and capable of being edu- 
cated and reformed. Every thing was 
here arranged for the purpose of cultivat- 
ing among the prisoners a desire for edu- 
cation, the means of an honourable sup- 
port in life and the maintenance of correct' 
morals. 

For the first time in his life, Jacob was 



JArOB HODGES. 2.'> 

treated like a man. For tlio first tiiiH* ni 
his life lie felt that lie had a friend. His 
heart was iniinediateiy won, his ronu'li 
spirit was subdued, his generous and con- 
fiding nature was called forth, prepared 
to receive instruction and good from those 
who showed an interest in his sad con- 
dition. 

No sooner had .lacoh entered this prison 
and .seated himself in his narrow cell, 
than he found a HihN" l)y his side and 
himself alone. This was something new. 
lie had never been in solitude before, 
where ail was silence and solemnity, 
llcrt' he had nothing to do by niuht hut 
to review his lite, to think alone iqion his 
melancholy state and what miuht he be- 
fore hini. There lay his Ihhie, but it was 
to him a sealed book, yet it awakened a 
train of the most solemn retleclions as 
he received from day to day some nmv 
I lessons of instnution from his friends 
I and keepers. 

Amoim the first and most faithful of 
. these was the chajdain of the prison, the 

:i 



29 JACOB HODGES. 

Rev. Mr. Curtis, who at once made him- 
self acquainted with the previous history 
of Jacob and his pecuUar disposition. 

The chaplain was forcibly struck with 
his fixedness of attention and his grateful 
emotions at the kindness he received, to- 
gether with that certain manifestation of 
human nobleness which Jacob always 
exhibited even in his worst days. 

At this time Jacob was extremely igno- 
rant, he did not know his own age accu- 
rately, and could not read at all. All 
moral and religious truth had been kept 
from him, and he was yet to learn his 
character and destiny as an accountable 
and immortal being. 

The chaplain came to him with the 
Bible, and notwithstanding his extreme 
ignorance and advanced age proposed to 
teach him to read. The first lesson he 
gave him was the first word in the Bible, 
I-n. The chaplain said to him. That word 
is in. Can you see how many letters^ 
there are in it ? Jacob replied. Two. He 
was then directed to look for the same 



JACOB HODGES. 27 

letters on oiIkt pages of the Hible, and 
soon learned to understand the ditlerence 
between letters whicli resembled eacli 
other, till he cuinprehended their lorce 
wlien combined in words. 

Being informed of the great truths wlncii 
were contained in the liible, whicli he 
might yet read for himself and more fully 
uudrTstand, Jacob was stimulated to con- 
stant exertion, till he was able to study out 
short sentences alone, which the chaplam 
111 his frequent visits to his cell would 
explain and apply to his individual case. 

It was not long before more than com- 
mon interest was manifested by Jacob for 
Ills spiritual condition. Wv awoke to the 
melancholy lact that he was a lost and 
ruined sinner, li was from the faithful 
instructions of the chaplain that he re- 
cen ed his lirst religious impressions, and 
they were from the beginning of a pecu- 
liarly marked and decided character. 

He repeatedly gave to his friends a 
minute account of the o})erations of his 
mind and his religious experience while 



28 JACOB HODGES. 

in prison. One who was particularly in- 
terested in Jacob recorded his narration 
at the time he gave it, almost in his own 
words, and it has already been read by 
thousands in the " Young Christian," as 
an illustration of the power ot" Christian 
truth and the grace of God. 

Being inquired of in relation to the 
crime for which he was imprisoned, how 
this sin appeared to him; " Very great," 
he replied : but understanding the ques- 
tion as relating solely to the injury he had 
done to a fellow-man, he added, " but not 
so great as my other sins towards God; 
my profaneness and intemperance." In 
giving this history of his feelings, he said, 
"When I first began to retiect in my cell, 
I saw my sins so great that I felt I could 
not be forgiven. When I told the chap- 
lain what was the crime for which 1 
was imprisoned, 'That,' said he, 'is one 
of the greatest crimes ; but pray to God 
and put your trust in him, and you shall 
find rest to your soul.' He told me also 



JACOB HODGES. 29 

if I could not read, he would visit me in 
my cell and put me in the way. 1 shall 
«ver love him while (iod gives me breath. 
1 shall love the chaplain for he put me in 
the way to i*ain the salvation of my soul. 
llcmad(;nK' promise him faithfully that 
I would go to (iod and try to find mercy ; 
and yet I had d(nibt in my lieart, my sin 
was so lieavy, whether 1 should be for- 
given. 

" Tlie chaplain soon lelt me, and 1 went 
into my cell and poured out my heart to 
(Iod to have mercy on mr. The more 1 
prayed, the more miserable I grew ; the 
heavier and heavier were my sin.s. 

''The next day I recjuested an indivi- 
dual to read to me a chapter, and as Hod 
would have it, he turned to tlie /joth chap- 
ter of I.saiah. It said, 'Kvery one that 
thirstetli, com<^ ye to tlu* waters, and he 
that hath no money, come ye and buy 
wine and milk without price.* 

"' lie read along where it says, ' I^et the 
wicked man forsake his ways and the un- 
righteous man his thoughts, and let him 

3' 



30 JACOB HODGES. 

retuin unto the Lord, and he will ha 
mercy upon him, and unto our God, 1 
he will abundantly pardon : For nt 
thoughts are not your thoughts, neith- 
are my ways your ways, saith the Lok 
For as the heavens are higher ih; 
the earth, so are my ways higher tli;, 
your ways, and my thoughts than yo 
thoughts.' 

" I found this gave me great encourag 
ment to go on to pray, to see if I con 
find relief from ail my troubles — the loo 
of sin that was on my heart. I thougl 
and prayed, and the more I prayed ll 
more wretched I grew ; the heavier m 
sins appeared to be. 

" A night or two after this, tlie chaplai 
came to my cell, and asked me how I fel 
I told him my sins were greater than 
could bear — so guilty — so heavy. If 
asked me if I thought praying won 
make my sins any less. I gave him ii 
answer. He soon left me, and I wen 
again to prayer. I was almost fit to ex- 
pire." At this time, Jacob had but ju'- 



fcJACOn HODUBS. 31 

gall lo learn llic naliire ol" siii, and Ins 
lations to (iotl an«J Ins holy law. As lio 
)oke(l hack n|)on Ins ledums, he adds, 
J In all n»y sorrows, 1 had iioi u hghl sor- 
row. iMyr sorrow was, because 1 had 
sinned against man/' 
I "The Snnday follownig/' he proceeds 
I' to siiy, "just alurr 1 had aimed my dinner 
\ to my cell, I |Hit my dinner down, and 
vent to prayer. I rose, and just as I rose 
iioni prayer, the ohuplam was at the door. 
We are all guilty creatures,' he said to 
me, *and wo cannot he saved, except 
(i()(l, lor ('hrisi's sake, will save us. If 
we j)rayand go toCiod,we must go in the 
name of Jesus Christ. Il we ex|>ect to he 
saved, we must he .s:ived ihron^'h the 
hlood and riiihleousness ot Jesus Christ.* 
'VUcn 1 picked up encouragement. 

" 'The sins which you have conuiiitted,* 
\\v went (HI to siiy, *are against your 
r«3llow-creatures, but they are much more 
against God.' Now, I never knew l>efore 
that they were against Ciod. When tin; 
chaplain Ictl me I went to [>rayer again. 1 



32 JACOB HODGES. 

could eat nothing that day. I did not 
eat a mouthful. 

" I recollected at that time, that a mini- 
ster had told me whenever I had a chap- 
ter read, to have the fifty-first psalm. I 
could not see any body to get to read it, 
and how to find it I did not know. The 
Sunday following, before the keeper un- 
locked the door, I rose up, and I went to 
prayer, and I prayed: ^0 Lord, thou 
knowest I am ignorant ; brought up in 
ignorance. Thou knowest my bringing 
up. Nothing is too hard for thee to do. 
May it please thee, Lord, to show me 
that chapter, that I may read it with un- 
derstanding. I rose up from prayer, and 
Avent to my Bible and took it up. I began 
at the first psalm, and turned over and 
counted every psalm, and it appeared to 
me that God was with me, and I counted 
right to the fifty-first psalm. I could read 
a little, and I began to spell — H-a-v-e 
m-e-r-c-y, &c. I looked over the psalm, 
and spelled it and read it, and then put 
the Bible down and fell upon my knees : 



JACOB HODGES. 3d 

* Have mercy u[)C)ii me, God, according 
unto the multitiule of ihy tender mercies 
blot out my transgressions. Wash me iho- 
rouL^hly from mine iniquities and cleanse 
me from my sins ; for my sin is ever be- 
fore me. Against thee, thee only have I 
sinned and done this evil in thy sigiitj 
that thou nuijditest be justified when thou 
speakrst and clear when thou judiftsl.' 

•WIku 1 rame to tin; words, Deliver 
iiie from blood-guiltiness, I was struck 
dunii*. I could not say any more at tlial 
time. 1 UtW upon my kjiees, and prayed 
to (lod to have nn-rcy on me for Christ's 
sake. liul I only grew more and more 
miserable. The load of my sins was 
lieavier and heavier. All that I had ever 
done came j>l:iin and open in my sight, 
and 1 was led to see that I must perish, 
'i'hcre was no help for me. All my sins 
was upon my own head.'' 

Jacob was fully sensible of the ignor- 
ance in which he had grown up, and the 
manner in wliich lie had been led astray 
and tempted to the commission of sin, yet 



84 JACOB HODGES. 

none of the circumstances attending liis 
crimes ever induced him to plead the least 
justification. His clear perceptions of sin 
and deep agony of heart, arose from the 
conviction that he had offended not 
against man alone, but against God. It 
was this that caused his " load of sin to 
grow heavier and heavier." 

For some time there was, apparently, 
no change in the character of his feelings. 
All was constant reflection, intense study, 
deep feeling, bordering on despair. The 
fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, and what the 
chaplain had told him of the blood and 
righteousness of Jesus Christ, served to 
keep his mind still inquiring for relief. At 
length, as he himself described it, "One 
day, when I was praying in my cell, my 
burden of guilt was removed. I felt that I 
might be pardoned through Jesus Christ." 

The relief which this gave him seems 
to have been almost indescribable. Every 
thing wore a new aspect. Even the 
gloomy prison seemed a cheerful and 
happy place. His expressions of joy 



JACOB nODGES. 35 

would appear almost extravagant to any 
j)erson not sufliciently acquaintpcl with 
ilie luunan mind to understand how the 
whole asj)ect of external objects will !)e 
controlled by the emotions which r«'ijn m 
the heart." 

'I'he narrativ<.' whi<h Jacol), at that 
time, gave of his feelings and change of 
niind, concludes as follows : " Kvcr since, 
this place, where I have bom confined, 
has been to me more like a jialaec iIkiii a 
prison. Every thing goes agreeable. I 
find I have .1 (h'eeiifwl heart, but Jesus 
tells me if I lack knowledL'e. In- will 
always lend. I <asi my can* ow him 
and not forget to pray. It is my prayer, 
morning and evenim:, thai I may hold 
out. ir I die liere. Lord, let me die in 
iliine arms. I have great reason to ble.ss 
this instituiion, .and every stone in it.'' 

The faithful instructions which Jacob 
received from the chaplain, were followed 
by tlir rvercise*? nf lb«' Sabbatli-'<eb<)(il. and 

• VoiinfT Cliri'Jtinn. j>. 17*^. 



36 JACOB HODGES. 

the public preaching on the Lord's day. 
To all these, lie gave the most strict atten- 
tion. Considering his age and past habits 
of life, his improvement was really as- 
tonishing. In nothing was his advance- 
ment so great as in the knowledge of 
divine things. He was evidently taught 
of the Spirit, and daily grew in grace and 
every Christian virtue. His temper, which 
had been uniformly rough, and at times 
almost indomitable, became subdued and 
tender. At the remembrance of his sins, 
he would melt almost in a moment to 
penitence and tears ; and, as he saw more 
and more of the Saviour, he was filled 
with gratitude and love. He was most 
obviously a new creature in Christ Jesus. 
The profane, drunken murderer, immured 
in his cell, was a broken-hearted penitent, 
a man of prayer. His prison now be- 
came a Bethel indeed. 

It was here that I first met him: I shall 
never forget the day ; it was the 4th of 
July, 1827. Having been engaged in re- 
ligious services during the morning, in the 



JACOB HODGES. 37 

afternoon we visited the penitentiary. 
The prisoners were all confined t*) their 
cells, wliile their keepers were abroad, en- 
joying the freedom and recreation ol* the 
anniversary. Passing thronah tlie ex- 
tended corridors, tijonirli in tli«' nndst t)!' 
five hundred souls, all was silent as tlie 
grave, and no human beint,' was visible, 
except liere and there one leaning ai^ainst 
the iron ^rate ol' liis cell. 

Tlie chaplain conducted ni(* to the door 
of Jacob's narrow apartment. He arose 
before its small ai)erture, and I had a full 
view of his broad African face, every line 
of which sj)ok(* the language of a mind 
and lieart of no ordinary character. There 
was a subdued, tender, yet cheertul aspect 
to his countenance, as if fully conscious 
of wlial he had been, yet blessed with the 
conviction of a new heart, and in liope of 
a better state yet to come. 

On learning my i)rofession and tlie ob- 
ject of my visit, Jacob became free and 
cheerful in liis conversation with me. 
While it has mostly pa.ssed from my me- 



38 JACOB HODGES. 

mory, tbe impression it left upon my 
mind is still vivid and affecting. He had 
just become able to read, with much 
effort, short sentences in his Bible, and 
was constandy engaged during his leisure 
hours in studying its pages. He had fully 
committed to memory the fifty-first psalm, 
and those who have heard him read or 
repeat that psalm will never forget the 
emphasis, the deep and solemn intonations 
of his voice, when uttering the petition, 
" Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, God, 
thou God of my salvation." 

After conversing some time, and learn- 
ing from his own lips the great change 
which he had experienced under the in- 
structions here given him, I said, " Jacob, 
it has proved a mercy to you that you 
were brought to this prison." " yes, 
master," he replied, " 1 bless God that I 
was brought here. I love every stone in 
this building." 

It was his uniform custom on retiring 
at night from labour to the soUtude of his 
cell, to seize his Bible, and employ the 



JACOB HODGES. 39 

few moinenls that remained of the light 
of day in studying its pages, in his poor 
way. Never did the word of God appear 
more precious to any one than it did to 
Jacob. In reply to my (luesiions respect- 
ing his interest in the Scriptures, he said, 
" Master, if you will beheve me, I have 
come into my cell at night, and setting my 
supper by my cot, I have taken my Hible 
and become so much engaged in reading 
and meditating upon its truths, that I 
wholly forgot my meal, till I siiw it un- 
touched in the morning." 

To almost every Christian visitor at the 
prison, Jacob soon became an object of 
peculiar interest, as well as a favourite of 
the keepers. He was selected to head one 
of the " gangs," as they were arranged and 
marched from their workshops to their 
tables and their cells at night. Here those 
who were utter strangers to Jacob have 
been forcibly struck with the peculiar 
expression of his countenance and the 
marked dignity of his movements. 

He daily secured more and more the 



40 JACOB HODGES. 

confidence and esteem of the chaplain and 
his teachers in the Sabbath-school, till 
they could have no doubt of his entire 
reformation and genuine repentance. 
Though his circumstances were unfavour- 
able, and his opportunities very hmited for 
the developement of Christian character, 
he was by no means deficient in the mani- 
festation of some of the most striking 
traits of rehgious experience. 

In the sohtude of his cell, he learned 
the true nature and the value of prayer, 
as the great means of access to God by 
a Redeemer ; and it was evidently the 
abundance of his supplication here, that 
laid so firmly the foundation of his whole 
Christian character through the remainder 
of his life. It was by prayer that he 
found the Saviour, and it was by prayer 
that he drew from the Bible its most pre- 
cious truths and abiding consolations. 

Such was Jacob's uniform deportment, 
.his fidelity and apparent piety, that the 
great ends of justice were felt to' be satis- 
fied in his case, and interest was at length 



JACOB HODGES. II 

made with the governor of tlie State to 
obtain his pardon for the remaining part 
of the time for which he was sentenced. 

He was asked if he thought he would 
conduct himself properly if he should be 
released? He replied that he did not know, 
but he feared that he should not ; addwii:, 
*' unless the grace of (lod keep uv\ I 
know I sliall not." 

Ilr had naturally a very unirovernable 
temper, and he feared the result of its 
exposure when h<* should be broui^ht 
again into the temptations of the world. 
He remembered his former habits of in- 
temperance, and he nnglit soon be over- 
taken and fall. Above all, he did not 
forget his sinful heart, and lie trembled at 
the thought of being again exposed to 
the evils of life, when freed from the re- 
straints with which he was now sur- 
rounded. In Ins cell, he felt a security. 
In his daily labour, he met but few teni})- 
tiitions. In his solitude, he communed 
alone with his own lieart and his Saviour, 
and here he was satisfied. The place of 

4- 



42 JACOB HODGES. 

his confinement, was truly to inm, "more 
like a palace than a prison." 

At length his pardon was granted, and 
his prison door was opened. Few scenes 
in his whole life were so affecting as this. 
That cell which had been his place of 
anguish and of tears, his dark abode of 
penitence and searchings after God, where 
light had broken upon his mind, he had 
met Jesus and found peace to his soul : — 
that cell, his closet, his Bethel, he was 
now to leave forever. 

Taking his Bible, the only article that 
belonged to him, he walked out to have 
his last, parting interview with his keeper 
and the chaplain. And it was one truly 
affecting to them all. He was one whom 
they regarded as the first fruits of their 
experiment upon the new plan of prison 
discipline. Jacob stood before them, the 
murderer, the ignorant, wretched African ; 
but how changed! Intelligent in the 
knowledge of God, a man of prayer, 
blessed in the hope of eternal life. His 
prison garments were taken off and he 



JACOB HODGES. 43 

was clothed in apparel suited lo ilie now 
circumstances in which he was now to ap- 
pear. He received the entire approbation 
of the superintendent, witli his advice and 
good wishes for his safety and success in 
BUbsequenl life. The chaplain then iravc 
iuni such counsel as his condition and 
prospects demanded, and kneeling with 
him, prayed that (lod would be his friend, 
his keeper and guide. The larire iron 
door then opened before hnn. The keeper 
and the rhaj)lain took liim alferiionaiely 
l)y the liand for the last time as an imnate 
of the prison, and Jacob went out, over- 
whelmed with emotion, as he bid adieu to 
these friends, and turned his eyes from 
the impressive memorials of his crimes 
and of the mercy of God to his soul. 

Jacob was now to try the streuirih of 
his new principles. As he looked, tlie 
first time for years, upon the heavens and 
the earth, a free man, lie actually felt 
more lonelv than when buried at niiiht in 
his narrow cell. His keeper had long 
been his friend. He had now left hira, 



44 JACOB HODGES. 

and where would he find another as kind? 
The chaplain had been liis constant and 
faithful adviser, his spiritual guide through 
his darkest hours: and where would he 
meet another so tender-hearted and so 
true ? Who was to take this poor, deso- 
late, long-imprisoned, but now liberated 
African by the hand, to befriend and 
watch over him ? He had not a relative 
that he knew on earth; nor a spot that he 
could call his home, where to claim shelter 
even for a night. Putting his trust m 
God his Saviour, he went forth to begin 
the world anew: and indeed it was all 
new to him. 

When recurring once to this event, he 
assured me that it was with great reluc- 
tance that he left the prison. Expressing 
some surprise and waiting for his reasons, 
he said, " I loved that place. I loved the 
prison, /br there I first met Jesus.'''' And 
can we wonder that he loved it? All the 
useful instruction he had ever received, 
all the real friends he ever had, and all 
the good he had ever known were asso- 



JACOB UODG£x 45 

rialed with this prison. Can we wonder 
that he loved il ? It was the hirth-i)lace 
of his soul, "//erf he firs I met Jesus.'* 

Great anxiety was felt for Jacob by all 
his friends, and they watched him daily 
to see whether he would show ih<; same 
meek and quiet spirit, and as highly 
honour religion iii the world, as he had 
done in his prison, lie must necessarily 
me«'l the temptations of life, which might 
be found too strong for his, as yet untried, 
moral principles, and in an evil hour lie 
might fall from his steadfastness. Of this 
he seemed to be well aware, and to have 
fortified his mind by reliance upon the 
grace of God. No one was aj)parently 
more alive to his own weakness and dan- 
gers. 

The lirst year after his release from 
prison, he spent with a private gentleman 
HI Auburn, wliore he fully maintained his 
Christian integrity. It was the wish of 
his friends tliat he should not go at once 
away from them, and it was ecpially his 
own desire to share their continued watch- 



46 JACOB HODGES. 

fulness and care, where his eye might rest 
upon the walls of that prison in which he 
first gained a knowledge of himself and 
the consolations of hope in his Saviour. 

Being anxious to live where his re- 
ligious privileges would be greater, he 
succeeded in gaining employment at the 
Theological Seminary, in the house of the 
steward. He soon secured the entire con- 
fidence of the family, as well as that of the 
students of the institution generally. 

Such was the evidence he continued to 
give of his genuine piety and growing 
knowledge of religious truth, that he was 
soon admitted to the communion of the 
First Presbyterian church in Auburn. 
Several revivals of religion occurred in 
the village, during the continuance of 
which few were more deeply interested 
than Jacob. He had come out of his 
prison with a solemn resolution to serve 
God in the limited sphere of his influence, 
and prayer was what he chiefly relied 
upon. Here lay the secret of his power. 
Like Bunyan, he had hved upon prayer 



I! 



JACOB HODGES. 47 

,'iiid this had opened to him liis most 
« rirapturing visions, and drew from the 
word of Clod its most precious truths. 

There was a pecuhar charm, a depth 
and fervency in Jacob's devotional ex- 
pressions. They were always marked 
with uncommon propriety and replete 
with scriptural allusions. All that knew 
him felt persuaded that he had commu- 
nion with (iod and was taught by the 
Spirit how to pray. 

There was also something peculiarly 
deep and clear in the whole of Jacob's 
religious experience, while under the in- 
struction of the chaplain in the solitude 
of his cell. He heard the Bible read; 
prayed often and fervently, and he ot'tcn 
received the kind sympathy and prayers 
of those who came to teach him the way 
of life. But no instructions, however 
evangelical, no prayers of his own or those 
of his Christian visiters lessened the burden 
of his sins. Every new truth of the gos- 
pel, and every new view of his own heart, 
deepened his convictions of guilt and of 



48 JACOB HODGES. 

his just condemnation. Nothing gave 
him relief or hope, till he saw Clirist his 
substitute as a suffering Saviour and 
atoning priest. It was not till he came 
to God through the Mediator and Re- 
deemer that he found peace. Pie never 
forgot this scriptural method of grace; 
this sure way of obtaining hope by faith 
in the blood of the Son of God. Yet he 
loved his Bible as the light of his path, 
and he loved prayer as the appointed 
method of securing the spirit that giveth 
life and peace. 

A happy illustration of his evangelical 
experience, of the true and proper use of 
the means of grace and of the nature-and 
office of prayer, occurred during a season 
of special religious interest, while he re- 
sided in Auburn. 

The daughter of the steward of the 
seminary, in whose family Jacob lived, 
became greatly distressed in view of her 
situation as a sinner. Her minister, and 
many Christian friends had conversed and 
prayed with her, but her anxieties were 



JACOB HODGB8. 49 

not removed. Their syiiij)alliies, with all 
the sources of consolalioii presented lo 
)\or, allorded no relief to her troubled 
mind, but rather aggravated her sense of 
truili. It was at lenetfi proposed that 
Jacob should be recpifsied lo convers<i 
and l)ray with her. He came into tlie 
room with emotions of deep interest for 
liis youn^ Iriend. There wiu> no one for 
whos«' salvation he mor*; earnestly prayed. 
Jacob stood before the weeping girl, 
lie knew from his own bitter cx|>erience, 
wiiat she was now suffering ; for, thouudi 
in eireumstancrs viuilly different, the hu- 
man heart is still the same, and tin* nece^i- 
sity for atoning blood is as absohue for 
the religiously educated and moral daugh- 
l< r (»1 Christian parents, as for the vilest 
of eonvicls. The heart that never has 
loved God supremely, and that has virtu- 
ally rejected the Saviour, is, in every in- 
stance, a heart at enmity with Go<l, and 
hopeless in uuiil, without th«' cleansing 
blood of (Christ. Jacob had himself felt 
th»' anguish of sin, and' he knew the re- 



50 JACOB HODGES. 

lief that a sense of pardon will afford 
to the wounded spirit, as it abandons 
its fruitless efforts to find peace any- 
where but in the cross of Christ. When 
in deep agony of soul he had been point- 
ed to the Saviour, his own happy expe- 
rience was to him abundant proof of 
Christ's willingness and power to save 
even the chief of sinners. The suffering 
girl, he saw to be more in need oi faith 
in Christ, than of an increased sense of 
sin and of her lost condition. 

To bring her to the cross, he knew that 
every false refuge must be torn away. 
Instead of meeting their request to pray, 
calUng his young friend by name, he said 
to her, in tones peculiarly tender and im- 
pressive, "Go and give your heart to 
Christ, at once,'' and left the room. His 
own experience had taught him the dan- 
ger of imparting ease to the stricken soul 
by Christian sympathy and prayer, where 
there was no repentance and faith in 
Christ. There was conscious rectitude in 



JACOB IIOPGES. f)! 

his decision and a dignity of Christian 
cliaractcr which all felt and admired. 

After securing the entire confidence of 
his Christian iViends at Auburn, Jacob re- 
moved to the village of Canandaigua, and 
residfci in the family of a widow lady, 
Mrs. M. Ikre lie became connected with 
the church of which I was pastor. 

My acquaintance with him was now 
renewed, and I was accustomed to sec 
him almost daily, lor several years. He 
often sought to manifest liis interest in 
me and my family, by acts of kindness 
and labour, for which he would receive 
no compensation ; feeling, as lie said, 
that it was a privilege thus to serve 
Christ. 

He never associated with the people of 
liis own colour, not because he was loo 
proud, but because their ordinary habits 
of feelmg and life did not at all correspond 
Willi his devotional desires, and the cur- 
rent of his every-day thoughts and pur- 
suits. He seemed to live at all times like 
one in constant communion with God, 



52 JACOB HODGES. 

and though entirely alone, he never ap- 
peared to be lonely, nor otherwise than 
contented and cheerful. Indeed, there 
was such an interest felt for Jacob by 
those who knew him, that the thought of 
his solitude was seldom indulged. 

He had another reason for abstracting 
himself from the society of his own peo- 
ple. He remembered his former habits 
of life ; the ease with which he had been 
led into temptation, and the misery and 
guilt which he had brought upon his soul. 
He was so watchful and prayerful, ever 
guarding against evil, that it was not 
known that he ever relapsed into any of 
his early habits, but in one solitary in- 
stance. And the very associations of this 
hour, throwing before his mind the long 
train of disastrous events through which 
he had passed, filled him with horror, and 
led him to double watchfulness against 
temptation, or even the appearance of 
evil. 

Jacob had the entire charge of the 
house where he lived, and proved himself 



JACOB HODGES. 53 

faitlifiil to every trust. Often have 1 seen 
hiin on the morning ot^ the Sahbath, when 
the family were absent, locking the front 
door and putting tlie key in his pocket, 
proceed to churcli, showing the confi- 
dence which was reposed in him by ins 
employers, and his iiabits of uniform 
attendance upon the service of the .sanc- 
tuary. Here he found his greatest plea- 
sure. He could say, with the psalmist, 
"Strength and beauty are in his sanctu- 
ary, and thy law do I love." He was an 
attentive and an intelligent hearer of the 
gospel, and found his home and iiighest 
delight in the jilace of prayer. 

Every thing now favoured his intelli- 
gent growth in grace and in all the virtues 
of the divine life, and probably at no time 
did he know more of the consolations of 
reliuion, and walk more consistentiv as a 
Christian. 'Yo many it has been a matter 
of surprise, that one so old, so ignorant 
and with so lew associations, should be- 
come so uniformly devout, consistent and 
happy in his religious character. An in- 

5* 



54 JACOB HODGES. 

timate acquaintance with his more private 
habits of reflection and rehgious duties, 
will at once remove this surprise and re- 
veal the secret of his eminent holiness 
and uniform stabiUty of Christian deport- 
ment. 

Ahhough he liad often informed me 
of his difficulties and conversed freely as 
to his religious experience, I have retained 
nothing that so fully reveals his more se- 
cret history as the following communica- 
tion from the Rev. Mr. D wight, corres- 
ponding secretary of the Prison Discipline 
Society. Mr. D wight had been deeply 
interested in his history and character. 
He had visited him frequently while in 
prison at Auburn, and from his own lips 
had written down the exercises of his mind 
in passing that eventful crisis in his reli- 
gious history which we have already re- 
corded. He had also repeatedly visited 
him while he resided in Canandaigua, and 
drew from him, at each interview, a de- 
tailed account of his religious experience, 
which he carefully preserved. 



JACOB HODGES. 55 

L'anandai^a, OcU 2, 1839. 

I Visited the jail in this place, in com- 
pany witli my aged and venerable friend 
from the Auijurn prison; wlio is a won- 
dtrlul monument ol' redeemim; love. His 
Christian character and example are much 
admired by all who know him. The tes- 
timony of the pious lady wiih wlmui Im^ 
lives, and has lived for seven years, is 
most decidedly in favour of his faithful- 
ness and piety. iMy interview, a record 
of which will be found below, will si>eak 
for itself. 

As we j)roceedcd to the jail, from the 
house where he lived, and came upon the 
side-walk in that beautiful villagf, and 
every thing around us appeared bright and 
lovpJv, :iiid our hearts l)urned within us 
toward the (iod of pn)vidence and grace ; 
.lacob said, " O, Mr. Doit,' little <lid I 
think, wIk'ii 1 saw you at my cell in the 
Auburn j)ri.son,lhal I slumld ever walk by 
vour side in the streets of Caiiandaii^Mia." 

Al'li,*r we returned from the iail. and 

• This was his pron»inciaUoii ul Uie name. 



50 JACOB HODGES. 

had taken tea, and Jacob had attended to 
his duties in the garden and at the barn, 
and had eaten his supper, and every thing 
was set in order at the fire-side in his com- 
fortable apartment, where he spent liis 
evenings at home, Jacob came to tlie par- 
lour door and said, " Mr. Doit, will you 
come and see Jacob now ?'' I gladly ac- 
cepted the invitation, and took my seat by 
his side and made the following record of 
his conversation. 

" Well, Jacob, do you think you love 
the Lord Jesus Christ .^" 

" I do, sir ; I think I have no other ob- 
ject in this world or in the world to come, 
but my blessed Lord and Saviour." 
" How does he appear to you, Jacob ?'' 
" He appears to me, in my daily walk 
and conversation, the chief among ten 
thousand and the one altogether lovely." 
*' Why does he appear so to you ?" 
"Because he plucked me as a brand 
from the burning, as I hope." 
"What do you mean by that?" 
" Why, sir, I mean that I was a very 



JACOn HODGES. 37 

great siiiiiLT, and he appeared to me as .1 
deliverer from sin. ()! the mercy." 

"How could he be a dehverer?" 

" It is because he was the Sou of Ciod 
that cauie into tlie world to seek and save 
that whu'li was lost." 

Here he drew near to me and rested his 
arm ui»ou my knee. 

'* Do you ever have any allectiu^ views 
ol his character?** 

'• \'ory often, very often. And it is my 
daily desire and strivini; to know more 
and more and mon? of his character." 

" WIku are the views you have of him ?" 

"He appears to mo daily as tlie Saviour 
of the world, able and willing to save all 
who come to God by Imn." 

" How do others appear to von in com- 
parison with him ?" 

" Nothinii^ but chalf before the wind, and 
the tliinu^s of the earth appear as dust com- 
pared with the glory of the Sou of God." 

" How can he bear to be seen by sucli 
a sinner as you and I ?'' 

** Because he bears with us a lone tiiue. 



58 JACOB HODGES. 

He is long-sufFering and not willing that 
any should perish. He came to seek and 
to save that which was lost." 

" Where is he ?" 

" He is in heaven and everywhere pre- 
sent. He is omniscient and everywhere." 

" How do you know ?" 

" I feel his Spirit moving upon my soul 
every once in a while, especially when I 
forget him." 

"When do you forget him?" 

" When I let the things of the world get 
between my soul and him, it is not long 
before I miss him, and strive to find him 
again." 

" Did you ever form any conception of 
his appearance ?" 

" His appearance ?" 

" Yes, of his person." 

" No, sir. He appears to me sometimes 
by an eye of faith as the Lamb of God, 
who taketh away the sin of the world. 
This I saw this day." 

" Where were you when you saw it 
this day?" 



JACOB HODGES. 59 

" In the woods." 

"How came you to think of him?" 

"Why, sir, I am always tlnnking of 
him ; but the thoughts have been stronger 
lately. I was stooping down, picking up 
chips, and I thought by an eye of faith 
that I could see him as a l^amb. And all 
at once he appean;d as a man dressed in 
uhile, beautiful and glorious."* 

" What did you do?" 

"The first that I knew, tears came into 
my eyes, and I went and fell down on my 
knees, and every thuig ajipeared joyful 
and glorious; even the trees of the field." 

" Then what next?" 

" Why, sir, I got my load and came 
home : and it appeared to me that I was 

* Jacob did not intend by this expression lo con- 
vey the idea that there was to him any visible aj)- 
pearance, einblemalic of his Saviour, but that th«» 
scriptural representations of his tenderness and 
glory were so strongly impressed upon his mind, 
that the images there drawn were to his perception 
hkelivint^ realities to the natural eye. He never 
exhibited the slightest evidence of superstition or 
fanaticism under any circumstances. 



00 JACOB HODGES. 

comforted all the way home, till I got into 
the gate here and saw you." 

" Well, how did you feel after you saw 
me?" 

" After I saw you the thoughts of my 
Saviour vanished from my mind, and I 
did not know you, but your countenance 
seemed to be familiar. When 1 came to 
find you out, I went to the barn and fell 
down on my knees, and blessed God for 
the privilege of seeing you again ; and I 
believe the Saviour was there with me. I 
am led to be astonished, Mr. Doit, many a 
time, that God has had compassion on me, 
and sent his Son to raise me from the 
depths of sin and degradation ; and many 
a time I look upon myself and see my 
own heart, I feel that I deserve to be ban- 
ished from his presence and the glory of 
his power." 

" Why don't he banish 5^ou ?" 

"Because he desires that I should be 
saved." 

" What gives you this feeling of unwor-- 
thiness ?" 



JACOB HODGES. 61 

" Ix>oking back upon my past life and 
feeling my hell-desert ; deserving nothing 
but the bottomless pit ; and tliis brings 
me to feel that nothing but the grace of 
God has kept me till this day." 

" You often speak of feeling so heavy, 
Jacob, what do you mean by that ?" 

"So heavy ?" 

" You spoke of it this morning, as hav- 
ing that feeling before you went into the 
woods." 

" 0, yes, when I look back and see my 
sins; when the Lord takes away his Spi- 
rit from me, and leaves me to myself, then 
I feel very htavy and distressed by my 
sin and guilt, till the Saviour appears to 
me again by his Spirit, and I feel like a 
new man, and I feel that my Saviour has 
come to me and raises me up, and puts 
joy and gladness into my heart, and causes 
me to feel liglit and joyt'ul. I have often 
felt that if I was left to myself, if it was 
not for the grace of God and his Spirit, 
that I should go into despair, and sink in 
despair.'* 

6 



$^ JACOB HODGES. 

" How do you get rid of these feelings 
of despondency, Jacob ?" 

" Fall down at his feet and never give 
him rest till he gives me rest by his 
Spirit." 

" Fall down at his feet?" 

" Fall down at the foot of the cross and 
pray for his mercy and the enlightening 
influence of his Spirit." 

" Fall down, you say ?" 

" Kneel down, I mean by falling down." 

" Do you commonly do that when you 
pray?" 

"Yes; but then I am always looking to 
God, when I am working on any thing." 

" Does it do you good to kneel down to 
pray ?" 

"It does; I have found along back 
that I have let the Avorld and business 
stop me when I have been pressed by the 
Spirit to go and pray, and I have found 
lately that the only way that I can obtain 
the Spirit of God, at all times, is to pray 
often." 

" How often ?" 



JACOB HODGES. 63 

" That is to say, set apart tliree times 
a day, and let nothing prevent."' 

" Three times a day ? Any particular 
place ?" 

" In the barn when I am about iiome ; 
il not, in the woods. No worldly object 
shall stoj) me when I am pressed by the 
Spirit of God ; and if I cannot go this 
moment, the Lord will make a way for 
mc to go the next." 

" You speak much of the Spirit of God 
pressing you." 

*' Y'es ; driving me to do my duty to 
my >raster." 

" What measures do you use to have 
ilie movings of llie Spirit upon your 
soul?'' 

" When I feel that 1 am left alone by 
tlie Spirit, I pray for the Spirit, and the 
Lord, according to the promise, sends his 
Sj)irit to comfort the mourning, weeping 



sinner." 



" Does the Bible help you any about 
this ?" 

*' 0, yes ; the Bible is my guide and 



64 JACOB HODGES. 

my chart. It is a light to my feet and a 
lamp to my path." 

Mr. Dwight had often requested Jacob 
to read the Scriptures to him, an exercise 
in which he was peculiarly impressive. 
He always Uoed his own Bible : "//<r// 
Bible^^ which first opened his eyes to the 
true light. This Bible Mr. Dwight iiad 
asked Jacob to give to him as a memorial 
of the power of the truth in saving such 
a sinner. Jacob uniformly declined, ex- 
pressing his strong attachment to this 
companion of his prison hours. In the 
present conversation, Mr. Dwight renewed 
his request for the Bible, but he found 
that it had lost nothing of its interest and 
value in the estimation of Jacob. It had 
not only consoled him in the solitude of 
his cell, but had prepared him to become 
a free man indeed, and now walked forth 
with him, "a light unto his feet and a 
lamp unto his path." He had read it in 
course seven times, and he uniformly 
perused the chapter from which the text 
was taken of every sermon he heard. 



JACOB HODGES. 65 

It IS said that lie always laid this Bible 
upon his pillow while he slept, that he 
might not only meditate upon it in the 
night watches, but find it as the light nt' 
his eyes at the dawn of day. 

Continuing the conversation, Mr. Dwiglit 
said : — 

" Now, Jacob, about that Bible which I 
have asked you so often to give me !" 

'' Well, master, that Bible is as dear to 
me as my own soul almost, because it 
always shows me my duty to (iod ; and 
shows to me the Lamb of God that 
lakes away the sin of the world.** 

"Well, but that Bible in particular, 
that old Bibler 

'•Well, I do not know about any other 
Bible ; I never read any other. It always 
reminds me of my friends, and shows me 
what I am by nature and what I must be 
l»v crace, before I am fitted for the king- 
dom of God." 

" But anv other Bible shows you the 
same.'* 

" Yes, sir, it does ; but because it was 

6* 



66 JACOB HODGES. 

given to me in the prison, I seem to be 
more touched with it, because out of it I 
found relief from my sins, and rest to my 
soul ; out of that very same Bible.^^ 

" So you cannot let me have it." 

" No, master, I would let you have it 
if I could go with you, so that I could 
read it every night and morning. But 
even if I would give it to you, you would 
not have it, you would not take it from 
me." 

" If I left you a new one, and a better 
one — and a larger print ?" 

" It would not answer. Mr. Curtis led 
me on by that Bible. Mr. Curtis led me 
to the feet of Jesus out of that same Bible, 
and by Mr. Curtis leading me by that 
Bible, I saw by the 51st psalm, and the 
55th chapter of Isaiah ; the 51st psalm 
condemned me to eternal death and there 
Avas no help for me, and by the 55th 
chapter of Isaiah I found relief to my 
soul." 

Mr. Dwight had been long and un- 
Aveariedly devoted to the improvement of 



JACOB HODGES. 67 

prison discipline, and regarding Jacob as 
among the first and happiest results of 
that system which he had been chieriy 
iijstrnrnental in introdncine to niany '»!' 
our [JtMiitentiaries, he became greatly in- 
terested in liis history. lie had lbrm»^d 
an exalted conception of his character as 
a Christian, and cherished profonnd ad- 
miration for Ins snperior order of mind. 
In this he was not alone. The most ca- 
sual observer was strurk with the snperior 
manliness and dignity of his (ieportment ; 
and .Indge Van Ness, when ]>n)nouricing 
his sentence of death, said to him, " You 
possess a more than ordinary strrnffth of 
nnnd. Providence has blessed you with 
a memory without a parallel in all my 
experience." 

Mr. Dwight has often remarked that 
no human tongue ever read the word of 
God in his hearing in tones so impressive, 
and with emphasis so solenm and appro- 
))riate. Wiienever he visited Jacob, he 
was accustomed to request him to lead m 
prayer, and he remarked that he never felt 



68 JACOB HODGES. 

drawn nearer to God, or more nupressed 
with the coldness and feebleness of his 
own devotional exercises, than when at- 
tempting to follow this eminent servant 
of God. No one ever united with him 
without feeling similar emotions. 

Jacob was not only a constant attend- 
ant upon the appointments of the church 
of which he was a member, but he often 
lead in devotional exercises when re- 
quested to do so. In those services he 
engaged without the slightest appearance 
of pride. On the contrary, his public ex- 
ercises as well as his whole deportment 
were characterized uniformly with the 
most humble spirit. At the same time, 
there was a propriety, a richness and a 
glow of devotion in his services, that 
showed alike the superior order of his 
mind and the deep piety of his heart. I 
shall never forget one prayer-meeting iu 
particular. It was held at the house where 
he lived. After several others had led in 
the devotional exercises of the evening, 
all of whom had received the advantages 



JACOB HODGES. 6P 

of education, and exhibited nothing inap- 
propriate or defective in the character of 
their petitions, Jacob was asked to pray. 
Kneelint^ before us, he led our devotions 
in a manner so appropriate, so solemn, so 
tender, subdued and scriptural, tliat all 
which preceded seemed cold, formal and 
lieartless. There was such apparent near- 
ness to God, such great familiarity with 
the service of prayer, such breathing of 
a heavenly spirit, that in following him 
myself, 1 felt like treadniir on hallowed 
ground. In this exercise beyond all others 
he was most at home and happy. Indeed, 
there was often a majesty of thousht 
in his prayers that gave a maunilieent 
richness to the drapery that clothed ihera, 
till in listening to the glowing language 
of his sup})lications, 1 have often been 
reminded of the power of piety and the 
Spirit of God as illustrated in the inspira- 
tion of truth, where the clearness and 
sac redness of the subject forbid the use 
of any other than the most appropriate 
and impressive language. He had learn- 



70 JACOB HODGES. 

ed the necessity and value of prayer Ironi 
the Bible, and tlience, too, he had at first i 
drawn the finest thoughts and language 
with which to approach the mercy-seat. 

It was not only in social prayer that 
he manifested his communion with God 
and his deep interest in the cause of re- 
ligion. His habits of secret prayer were 
well known to the family with whom he 
lived, and probably few Christians were 
ever more constant and punctual in the 
duties of the closet. No labours of the 
day found him too weary or unfitted for 
prayer at night. He could say with the 
psalmist of Israel, "As for me, I will call 
upon God and the Lord shall save me : 
evening, and morning, and at noon, will 
I pray and cry aloud ; and he shall hear 
my voice." 

Those who often overheard the earnest 
pleadings of his heart in his closet, were 
assured, that it was not alone his own 
"poor soul" of which he so often spoke, 
but the salvation of others ; the state of 
the family and the church, and the glory 



JACOB HODOF«;. 71 

of God that burdened his heart. He 
wrestled with God Hke the patriarchs of 
old, and he rose early, like the Saviour, to 
renew his vows and his service of de- 
votion. The same comprehensiveness 
and fervour, j)ropriety and (hrectness of 
expression, characterized all his religious 
exercises, and those tliat read his history 
were at no loss to discover the secret of 
Ins pietv and tin* source of liis abiding 
consolation. 

There was always somcihini; remark- 
,ihlt; 111 his whole deportment and car- 
riag(\ While his stature was manly and 
erect, liis movement strikingly dignified 
and commanding, and in his intercourse 
nothiiic: servile and low, llu'r«' was at the 
same time a winninii modesty, a just ap- 
preciation of himself. .And while he 
made no claim t(> the kind regard and 
attention of others, he was never ungrate- 
liil for tlu'ir condescension to his low 
^'state. 

He never seemed to know that his 
mind was at all superior to that of otheri 



72 JACOB HODGES. 

who had grown up in ignorance, or tliat 
in any respect he was more deserving of 
attention. He was never known to com- 
plain of neglect, but often expressed his 
surprise and gratitude that his friends 
should remember "old black Jacob," as 
he was accustomed to call himself 

His humility was most of all manifested 
in his estimate of himself as a sinner. He 
never alluded to the history of his early 
life, or to his crimes, but with emotions the 
most deep and painful, and with expres- 
sions of the greatest self-abhorrence. In 
allusion to the character of the man that 
was murdered, he once remarked, " His 
conduct was no justification for me ;" and 
though his act would not alone have 
proved fatal, yet he never felt himself any 
thing but a murderer, nor denied the just- 
ness of the sentence that condemned him 
to the gallows. 

To the chaplain of the prison, he once 
said, "The man in the next cell to me 
always prays with his face toward the 
grate in the door, but,'' pointing to the re- 



JACOB HODGES. 73 

molest part of his cell, he added, " away- 
down in that corner is the best place for 
mc." In all my acqnaintance with liiin, 
I never discovered the slightest symptoms 
of s[)irilual |)ride. 

When I left him for another and distant 
field of labour, his heart was too full to 
bid me farewell ; and when he received 
another minister, his atfections seemed to 
be divided between us, and he would 
unite us in his petitions at the llirone of 
grace with peculiar tenderness. At one 
lime, after iinplorini^ blessings upon the 
church and its pastor, he added, " Now let 
thy Spirit, Lord, be witli our former mi- 
nister ; let him feel in his soul at this mo- 
menty that his old people are praying for 
him." 

All my subsequent interviews with Ja- 
cob have only served to strengthen my 
confidence in his piety, and to increase 
my admiration of his character as a 
Christian and a man. And nothing has 
ever occurred since my removal from him 
to shake the confidence of others in his 

7 



74 JACOB HODGES. 

Stability and devotion to the cause of his 
Master. Indeed, he was regarded by his 
pastor and by the whole church, as an 
emhient Christian, daily growing in grace 
and seeking to render himself useful in 
the humble and limited sphere of his in- 
fluence. 

My successor at Canandaigua, the Rev. 
Mr. Thompson, has informed me that in 
a recent revival of religion in that place, 
Jacob was peculiarly animated and re- 
freshed. " I have often thought," he says, 
" that Jacob shared more largely in its 
blessings than any of us. Perhaps in this 
he was receiving his earthly reward, for 
no one could more justly claim to have 
been the favoured instrument of that 
work, than himself. His mind had been 
remarkably exercised for a long time, and 
for months his intense anxiety for the 
religious state of the people had been 
manifest in his prayers and in his whole 
conversation. Late in the winter of 1840 
we were blessed with the evident indica- 
tions of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 



JACOB HODGES. 75 

Attendance upon the means of grace 
became much mcreased, and some were 
found anxiously iiKjuiring for the way of 
life. A day was set apart for fasting and 
special prayer. We nict in the lecture- 
room at noon. The meetmg was full, but 
it was heavy and lifeless. Just before 
dismissing the congregation, with feelings 
of deep depression and discourairement, I 
turned to Jacob and asked him if he had 
nothing to say to us? He rose instantly, 
sayifig, * Yes, master.' .Vnd a more elo- 
Jiuent address than that which followed, 
if I may judge from my present recollec- 
tion of it, or from the effect which it pro- 
duced, I do not think ever fell from the 
lips of a mortal. I wish I could recall it. 
He began somewhat in this way, as he 
rose in answer to my invitation, * Yes, 
master. When I was praying in my 
chamber, this morning, and trying to get 
ready for this meeting, it seemed to me 
just as if my Saviour spake to me, and 
said, 'Jacob, I want you to speak for me 
to-day to the jieople ; and now, my dear 



76 JACOB HODGES. 

masters and mistresses, for I dare not call 
you my brethren and sisters.' He then 
spoke in most humiliating terms of him- 
self, apologizing apparently for sayin:: 
anything. He alluded distantly to hi^ 
own previous history, and spoke of what 
he deemed his present insignificance ui 
the church and in society ; but neverthe- 
less, he sought us to hear him, for the 
sake of Jesus. ' Not for my sake,' said 
he, ^for I am nobody, nothing but a with- 
ered and dry old leaf of the vine, away, 
aivay off, lying out on the ground. And 
now, my masters and mistresses, let a 
poor old black African entreat you to 
come up to the help of the Lord.' 

" I can only say," adds Mr. Thompson, 
"that the effect which followed Jacob's 
address, was overwhelming. Tlie very 
house seemed to rock where we were. 
All wept, and many sobbed aloud. 

" When he concluded, summing up all, 
by saying, ^ Now the question is, will you 
obey God — will you be for him — will you 
rise and work?' I do not believe that 



JACOB HODGE>. 77 

there was a heart in the house whicli did 
not earnestly respond, * We will obey God, 
we will be fur hiin.' 

" Two weeks did not elapse before the 
house of God was thronged with imiuiriiiLj 
souls, and more than one hundred in our 
own congregation were the hopeful sub- 
jects of grace. 

'' Jacob, during tlie entire progress of tliat 
work, and indeed at all tunes, was an 
earnest labourer for the conversion of 
souls. He attended every meeting for re- 
ligious inquiry, and, taking his seal in a 
remote corner of tlie room, passed the time 
in silrnt prayer. One evening, when the 
people generally had retired, my attention 
was attracted by a very earnest voice at 
the door. I supjiosed that some one was 
engaged in prayer. I soon found Jacob 
liolding on literally to the skirts of a poor 
old woman, imploring her not to leave the 
])lace till she had accepted of Clirist. 1 
never heard such earnest pleading. He 
was indeed * beseeching her with tears.' " 

At this time Jacob seemed to be bap- 

7* 



78 JACOB HODGES. 

tized with a new spirit, and the salvation 
of souls was the subject of his thoughts, 
his prayers and his efforts. On passing 
from the house of worship, one evening, 
he observed a company of young ladies 
from the seminary, many of whom lie 
knew to be deeply sohcitous for their sal- 
vation. Modestly approaching them, he 
poured forth the feelings of his soul for 
them, in alternate exhortation to them and 
prayers to God that they might believe 
and Uve. " Do, do, dear youth," he cried, 
" repent of your sins and go to the Sa- 
viour. Go now. Don't delay. He will ac- 
cept you. Paul was a great sinner and he 
was accepted, and so you may be." Re- 
minded by his minister that it was time for 
him to retire, he turned from this interest- 
ing circle of youth, raising a most impres- 
sive ejaculation to God for their salvation. 
His efforts were not confined or limited 
here. Remembering his own ignorance 
and degradation, and knowing the power 
of the gospel of the grace of God, he de- 
spaired of the salvation of no one, however 



JACOB HODGES. 79 

Ignorant and degraded lie was accus- 
tomed to visit certain families that most 
other Christians had overlooked, as it" they 
had long and by common consent been 
abandoned to the ways ot" unrighteousness. 
One family in particular excited his mte- 
rest. They were notoriously liardened and 
degraded in sin. Jacob, taking his own 
IJible in his hand, would sj)end evening 
after evening at their own house, reason- 
ing with them out of the Scriptures and 
luging, m his modest yet earnest way, the 
importance of tiieir reformation and re- 
pentance. They liad wholly neglected the 
Bible, and seldom if ever attended religious 
service at the house of (lod. lie would 
spend hours m reading to them the Scrij)- 
tures, and beseech them to go with him to 
the place of public prayer. He seemed 
letermmed not to relimiuish his object, l)ut 
pressed upon them, almost daily, the value 
of religion. His labours were not in vain. 
The son, perhaps the most unpromising of 
all, became awakened to his lost and riun- 
ed condition, in his gross darkness and 



f 



80 JACOB HODGES. 

deep distress, he came at once to Jacob 
for advice. Jacob could only encourage 
him to resolute etibrts and point him to 
Christ. He went with him to the meeting 
for inquiry and to his minister, till ulti- 
mately he was numbered among the hope- 
fully converted. The mother soon became 
interested for her own salvation, and was 
at length brought to embrace the offers of 
life in the Redeemer. The father was next 
apparently reached by the Spirit of God, 
through the labours of their faithful friend 
Jacob. The mother and son are now mem- 
bers of the church, and the father is great- 
ly changed in his habits of life, if not actu- 
ally renewed by the Spirit of God. How 
many others may be found at last, saved 
through the humble labours of this pray- 
ing African, is known only to him who 
blesses the feeblest efforts of his saints. 

Jacob's sense of gratitude and his love 
for his friends were uncommonly ardent 
and strong, and I never heard of an ex- 
pression of unkindness falling from his 
lips. To his last hours, he could not speak 



JACOB HODGES. 81 

of the superintendent and chaplain of the 
prison at Aiihurn hut willi tears of thank- 
ful and alfectionatc remenihrance. Of 
Mr. Dwight, who so often visited him hoth 
in prison and after his release, he always 
spoke in terms of ardent attachment, call- 
ing him uniformly " My friend Mr. Doit." 
To him he consented to bequeath his** pri- 
son Bible," as he called it, when he should 
die. While every tiling was manly and 
decorous, there was a touching tenderness 
and warmth of interest and love for his 
ministers and those Christian friends who 
were accustomed to see him most often 
and to iiupiire aficr his spiritual prosperity. 
Last summer I recpiested him to give 
me the history of his whole life. At first 
he hesitateil and positively declined, say- 
ing, " It distresses me to think of it." 
And his whole frame seemed to tremble, 
as his eye rested upon me, as if lie was 
astonished that I should ask him to re- 
hearse his crimes. I told him it might do 
good, and that 1 would make no improper 
use of it. He then consented, and went 



82 JACOB HODGES. 

minutely into his whole history, which cor- 
responded with great accuracy to the re- 
cords of the court in which he was tried 
for murder, and the sketches which have 
been preserved of his hfe and rehgious ex- 
perience while in prison. 

Could all that he said, warmed with the 
emotion with which it was uttered, be 
written down just as it fell from his lips ; 
could some pencil pahit the varied expres- 
sions of his care-worn and sable counte- 
nance, with the beamings and tears of his 
expressive eye ; the suppressed heavings 
of his heart, with his marked gratitude for 
grace and mercy, no one could doubt that 
Jacob Hodges was a man of penitence, a 
man of prayer, a man of God. I never 
was more impressed and overawed by the 
dignity of Christian character, or saw more 
distinctly drawn the living symbols of the 
grace of God. 

This interview seemed to call forth 
afresh his confidence in me as his friend 
and adviser, and to secure warmer attach- 
ment. As I was leaving the place, Jacob 



JACOn HODGES. S3 

came running to the carriage, to bid fare- 
well to liis master and mistress, as he called 
iLs. We saw him then for the last time. 

In February following, he was taken 
sick and suddenly died. And though no 
earthly relations were near him, many 
felt that they had lost an unwavering, 
Cliristian friend. The chunh saw one 
of her best and njost useful members 
removed. 

The day he was burieil was intensely 
cold and stormy. Some of the most re- 
sp(>etable gentlemen of the' village bore 
him to his irrave, while tJthers lelt it a 
])rivileL'e and honour to attmd him to liis 
restini^-place among the dead. A friend 
and nc-iiilibour placed a silver plate upon 
his collin, with the inscription, — 

(J.VCOn lioDGES, A RKsrECTAIU.E CO- 
LOI^REI) MAN, AGED EIGHTY.) 

lie rests from his labours, and his works 
do lollow him. 

On the Sabl).'itli following- Jacob's de- 
cease, the Kev. Mr. Thompson, wlio suc- 
ceetled the author in the pastoral relation 



84 JACOB HODGES. 

at Canandaigua, paid the following tri- 
bute to tlie memory of this servant of 
Christ. 

" Two weeks ago to-morrow Jacob 
spent not less than two hours with me in 
my study. We had much conversation 
in relation to himself. Among other 
things, he said, and from the connexion 
in which he said it, I know that it was 
not in the spirit of boasting, ' I have now 
lived ten years in Canandaigua : every 
body knows black Jacob, at least by sight, 
and I challenge all, men, women and 
children, to say, if I have ever injured 
any body, or done anything inconsistent 
with my profession, except that I have 
not been as humble and as much like my 
blessed Master as I ought to have been : 
and this I know better than anybody can 
tell me; and I am ashamed and mourn 
for it.' This was saying much ; more, I 
fear, than many of us dare say ; but we 
must all confess that it was a safe chal- 
lenge for Jacob. 

" Some things I would particularly say 



JACOB HODaSft. 8S 

of him, as furnishing examples well 
wortliy of imitution. 

"//e was a iiuin oj prayer, lie began 
his Cliristian course with a strong sense 
of his dependence upon (lod ; perhaj^s 
there was something in the peciihar (hlli- 
cullies which he had to overcome, tliat 
li'd lum in a j)eculiar manner to reahze 
this trulh ; certam it is tijat lie «hd reahze 
it more than almost any other Christian I 
ever knew ; and as a necessary conse- 
quence, he prayed more than most other 
Christians. Those; of you who have 
hrard liis eloquent ])leadings willi Clod in 
the prayor-moetinir, need no other evi- 
dence that tlie exercise was a familiar one. 
How often has the remark been made, 
that one of Jacob's prayers was enough 
to change the character of an otherwise 
dull and spiritless meeting. How full 
and fervent were his petitions! How 
near to the throne he always seemed to 
get. Think that it was not till he was in 
prison that he learned to read ; then re- 
member liow chosen was his language. 



86 JACOB HODGES. 

how exceedingly fine it was sometimes; 
how apt and abundant were his quota- 
tions from Scripture ; how well he would 
adapt himself in prayer to the peculiar 
circumstances of the time, and you must 
be convinced that he was thoroughly 
practised in the duty. 

^' Jacob was a very humble Christian. 
You may say that he had much reason to 
be humble ; so had he many temptations 
to be proud. You know with what 
marked respect he has always been treated 
among us, and he was the object of very 
general interest, so that strangers, visiting 
the place, have sought to be introduced to 
him. Many times I have been appre- 
hensive that he would be injured by the 
attentions which he received, but I never 
discovered that he was. He did not seem 
disposed, on any occasion, to put himself 
improperly forward, or anxious to attract 
notice. The memory of what he had 
been seemed always to be present with 
him. Many of you will remember that 
thrilling scene in our lecture room, a year 



JACOB HODGES. 87 

ago, just previous to our precious revival : 
when as we were about to separate under 
most disheartening circumstances, Jacob 
was invited to address us. You have not 
forgot that truly eloquent and overwhelm- 
ing appeal which seemed to shake the 
very house in which we were assembled, 
while the whole congregation was con- 
vulsed with weeping. You remember 
the words with which he began : *■ My 
masters and mistresses, for I dare not call 
you my brethren and sisters.' There was 
breathed the spirit of the man, and I never 
knew him to appear to cherish any other. 
" There was a pecuharity in his prayers 
which you must have noticed. In that 
part of them wiiich consisted of confes- 
sion, he always used the lirst person sin- 
gular. He seemed to think lliat his con- 
fession of sin could only be appropriate 
for himself He often alluded to the past 
with expressions of the most profound 
abhorrence and shame. Sometimes he 
spoke of his crime, but it was always 
with such evident pain, that it was dis- 



88 JACOB HODGES. 

tressiiig even to hear him. I have seen 
him seized with violent trembling at the 
bare mention of that subject. 

" He has said to me, ' Master, I do be- 
Ueve that my heavenly Father loves me, 
but how wonderful it is that he should 
love me. I cannot love myself: it seems 
to me that nobody ever sinned against 
him as I have done." 

^' Jacob ivas an earnest Christian. He 
was constantly examining himself. Every 
sermon he heard, he sought to apply 
someway as a test of his own character; 
and he was never satisfied unless he saw 
evidence that he was growing in grace. 
To this end, he was diligent in his use of 
all the means of grace. Until his health 
began to fail, during the present season, 
he was very rarely absent from any reli- 
gious meeting ; and his familiarity with 
the Scriptures, acquired by the constant 
perusal of them, was truly wonderful. 
When I have met him and inquired after 
his health, nothing was more common 
than for him to reply in some such terms 



JACOB HODGES. B9 

as these ; showing the channel m which 
his thoughts habitually flowed. * Very 
well, master, in body, but this wicked 
Jieart ; I want a great deal more grace.* 
He complained mucli of a disposition to 
worldliness. ' Mis little matters of busi- 
ness engrossed so nuich of liis attention, 
he was compelled,* he said, * to pray con- 
tinually against it. Hp wondered how 
rich Christians could keep along.* 

^'' Jacob was a useful Christ iaji. Such a 
one could hardly be otherwise. It may 
be said of him, ' He hath done what he 
could.' There are not a few in this vil- 
lage who owe their conversion, under 
God, to his faithfulness, and I doubt not 
there are many who are ready to rise up 
and call him blessed. 

"His uniform and consistent life of piety 
cannot but have had a happy inlluence 
on all who observed him. He loved and 
longed to do good. I once asked him 
why he was so anxious to be rendering 
services to me, for he was constantly in- 
quiring if he could not do something for 

8* 



90 JACOB HODGES. 

me. His reply was, that it seemed almost 
the same as if he was preaching the gos- 
pel, when he was helping his minister. 

" There is an anecdote of him, highly 
illustrative of his character, which, though 
a proper place has not seemed to occur 
for it in this hurried sketch, I am unwill- 
ing to omit, because it shows so strikingly 
his feelings on a subject, in relation to 
which every Christian ought continually 
to examine himself Some two years ago 
he had a violent attack of the same dis- 
order (inflammation of the lungs) of which 
he died ; and it was supposed then that he 
could not recover. In one of the many 
delightful interviews which I had with 
him, I recollect to have asked him this 
question, ' Are you quite sure, Jacob, that 
you hate sin ?' I never can forget the 
earnestness of his manner, and the pecu- 
liar expression of his eye, as he rose up 
quick in his bed and stretching out his 
arms, exclaimed, ^ Master, I do hate my 
very flesh on account of sin.' 

"His death, at the time it occurred, was 



JACOB HODGES. 91 

anticipated but a very few liours;. I saw 
liirn on Monday, and had much conversa- 
tion with him, though without any suspi- 
cion of the nearness of his end. lie 
n.'ferred to the lectures wliich I had been 
dehvering weekly, for some month.^' past, 
on Christian experience, and said they 
iiad been greatly serviceable to him. He 
told mo tliat hn had been led by them to 
go over the whole ^routid again, and to 
examine himself, to use his own language, 
'all over anew, from beginning to end, 
10 see whetlier he was on the sure fuunda- 
lion, 

*''\Vell, Jacob,' I said, 'and what is 
your conclusion?' 

" ' I think,' he replied, ' that it is all 
rii^ht, master.' 

" *Then you think,' I contiinied, Mhat 
you are rutuiing no risk, if you die now?' 

" * Not any,' was his prompt reply, 
' Christ is able and faithful.' 

"To one who went into his room, the 
last morning of his life, to ask how he 



92 JACOB HODGES. 

felt, and if he needed any thing, he simply 
said, *0, 1 want more grace in my heart.' 

" His last hours were passed in a state 
of unconscious stupor, and at six o'clock 
in the evening, he expired." 

About two weeks after the remains of 
Jacob had been buried, the credulous 
coloured people of the village circulated 
reports that his body had been removed 
from the grave for the purpose of dissec- 
tion. To silence this conjecture, his grave 
was opened. His coffin was found undis- 
turbed, and as the shroud was unfolded 
from his cold remains, he was reposing iu 
the sweet sleep of death, awaiting the re- 
surrection of the just. 

I have recently returned from the place 
of his residence, and from a visit to his 
grave. I felt that I was standing amid 
many of the congregation to which, for 
years, I had proclaimed the gospel of 
Christ. The oldest, and many of the best 
of the church Avere sleeping around me, 
and yet among them all, there was none 
who, for ardent piety, for simple faith, for 

< '^ -"• 

J?. 'I' €^r 



JACOB HODGES. 93 

an humble, holy walk with God, had gone 
to ihu grave with brighter evidence of 
meeting Christ at his coining in glory, 
than Jacob Hodges. 

Ill the month of May last, the anni- 
VLTsary of the American Prison Discipline 
Society was held in the city of Boston. 
1 was invited to be present, in conse- 
(jucnce of my past relation and intimate 
acquaintance with Jacob. 

Jacob's " prison Bible," which he had 
bequeathed to his friend, Mr. D wight, 
arrived just before the exercises were 
conunenced. This was the Bible which 
had been the only companion of his 
dreary cell. The only book lie ever read. 
'/'//(/Z /ii^/c, which had rested by his head 
while he slept, "that had guided him to 
Christ ; dear to him almost as his own 
soul." It was held up before a crowded 
congregation ; it demanded no supersti- 
tious reverence, as a consecrated relic, but 
deeply impressed upon every beholder 
the prcciousness and power of the truth 



94 JACOB HODGES. 

of God to enlighten the bhnded, to guide 
the erring and to save the lost. 

Christian respect and aftection have or- 
dered a tomb-stone to be erected at the 
grave of Jacob, to bear the following in- 
scription : 

JACOB HODGES, 

AN AFRICAN NEGRO, 

Born to poverty and ignorance .- 

Early tempted to sin by designing and wicked men .• 

Once condemned as a felon .• 

Converted by the grace of God^ in prison .• 

Lived many years a consistent and useful Christian: 

Died, Feb. 1842, 

In the faith of the gospel: 

Aged about 80 years. 



IHE END. 











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